Wrinkled Heart Lesson

Plan
Grade(s): 5th, 6th, & 7th grades
School Counseling Program Goal(s) addressed:
Students will gain awareness of how their words and actions can affect those around
them. They will acquire understanding about the various types of bullying aggression
(physical, verbal, relational, cyber-bullying) and distinguish between someone being
rude, mean, or being a bully.

ASCA Student Standards or ASCA Mindsets & Behaviors standards

addressed:
Mindsets addressed include sense of belonging in the school environment and belief
in development of the whole self, including a healthy balance of mental,
social/emotional and physical well-being. Behavior Standards addressed include
demonstration of creativity, creating positive and supportive relationships with other
students, demonstrating empathy, and demonstrating the ability to assume
responsibility.

Learning Objective(s):
1. (Competency 3.1) Respect for Self & Others
2. (Learning Outcome 3.1) Maintaining Positive Relationships with Peers & Adults
3. (MLP.SS.3.1.9) Describe bullying and use effective practices to address it
Materials:
Paper heart templates, crayons, colored pencils, markers, scissors

Procedure:
Pass out materials to students. Ask them to draw on their hearts, being creative
as possible, what makes up who they are. This could be things they love, the
most important things to them, and/or what makes them happiest. Provide 15
minutes to allow students to make their hearts and then ask them to cut them
out. Now you will have a discussion about the difference between someone being

rude, mean, or bullying. Ask open ended questions to the students to get them
thinking. Then discuss the four types of bullying aggression: relational, physical,
verbal, and cyber. You will then ask the students to share with a partner what
they put on their heart. After a few minutes of sharing, ask the students to hand
their hearts over to their partner. The students will now crumble up their
partners heart. During this time, be aware of the reactions of the students and
make sure to include your observations in the discussion. Ask the students to fix
it to the best of their ability and ask them to hand the heart back to its owner.
Follow up on the activity focusing on the following questions:
- Is the heart the same, even though you apologized?
- How does this relate to when we say or do mean things to another?
- How did it feel when someone crumbled up your heart?
- What are some things we can think about before we say or do mean things
based on this activity?
Hang the hearts somewhere that they can be seen in the school to remind the
students that their words and actions leave a mark on others. You can use the
following quote to display your students hearts: Before you speak, think
and be smart. Its hard to fix a broken heart.